Daughter
by BeautifulDoom
Summary: Wheatley really wants a spot on the Testing Team, and his coworker is offering to help him get it. The catch? Wheatley must babysit her daughter. AU Human!Cores. Kid!Chell.
1. A Devil's Bargain

Wheatley was sitting at his cubicle when he heard the voice of the devil speak up behind him.

"Wheatley…" It said. Wheatley froze, hands poised over his keyboard, and slowly turned in his chair to face the horror of…

Renee.

Ok, so it wasn't the devil, but Renee might as well have been. She was a higher up, part of the testing crew, and she loved to lord that fact over Wheatley. She loved to rub it in his face that she had been chosen over him for that coveted spot on the testing team, leaving him behind in the research department. She wore immaculate clothing complete with a self-important smirk.

"Can I help you, Renee?" Wheatley asked.

"HI!" Wheatley nearly jumped as a little girl appeared and rushed into his cubicle. He looked down at her in confusion. The little girl had long black hair and greyish-blue eyes.

"This is Chell," said Renee. "She's my daughter." Wheatley looked up in surprise as Chell began flipping through the calendar on his desk.

"I…I didn't know you had a daughter," said Wheatley. True enough, Renee had no pictures on her bright shiny new desk of a little girl, nor did she ever mention having one. The girl looked to be about seven years old, and Renee had been working at Aperture for nearly five years.

"Yeah well," Renee tossed her hair, "I just never mentioned her. I don't need everyone knowing about my business. Anyway, my lovely promotion has allowed me to move closer to work, and the daycare center is too far out of my way now." Wheatley watched Chell trace her fingers over the cat pictures in his calendar. He had to admit that she was acting well behaved for a girl so young. Then what Renee had just said finally registered.

"What?" he said. "What does that have to do with me?" Renee smirked and walked forward so that she could loom over Wheatley.

"I need you to watch her while I work today. You know, since you don't have anything _important_ to do," Her smirk widened as Wheatley felt the sting of the insult. He wanted so bad to yell at her, scream that she was nothing more than a horrible woman who didn't deserve that spot, but his resolve weakened under her leer. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I am no one's babysitter," he bit out. He folded his arms, not noticing that Chell had copied him. Renee looked surprised, but that quickly melted back into her smirk. She gave a dramatic sigh.

"Well that's just too bad," she said. "You know, I heard that one of our team members will be retiring in a few months. Cave's going to have to fill that spot, and I was thinking that I could put in a good word for you with him since you're so nice and responsible, but if you can't be bothered to help me when I need you…" She trailed off. Oh, it was a Devil's bargain, and Wheatley knew it. It was the lowest, most selfish thing that Renee could do, but dammit if Wheatley didn't badly want that spot.

"Wait," he said. "I-I guess I could watch her. I mean, she seems behaved enough. I could watch her for you." He put on a nervous smile and Renee laughed.

"Perfect," she said. "I'll come by and get her when I leave. Have fun!" She turned around and walked off.

"Um, remember that my shift ends at six!" Wheatley called after her. Chell didn't even seem to notice that her mother had left, and Wheatley couldn't help but be concerned by that fact. Did Renee do this all the time? Chell looked up at Wheatley with her big eyes and tilted her head.

"Hello, luv," said Wheatley. "Um, your mum's gone off to work so I'll be watching you today, ok?" Chell nodded and sat down on the floor. Wheatley quickly looked around for something for her to play with. He gathered up some blank paper and some spare markers.

"Here," he said. "Draw me a pretty picture." Chell's face lit up and she eagerly took the supplies and began to draw. Wheatley scratched the back of his head.

"Doesn't talk much, does she?" He muttered.


	2. Apple

WARNING! STRONG LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER.

Wheatley watched Chell with interest as she slowly chewed her half of his ham and cheese sandwich. She hadn't spoken a word since her mother had left, but had drawn several pictures of herself, a few of Wheatley, some generic dogs and cats, and several of her mother. What worried Wheatley is that her mother was with a different man in each drawing. Wheatley had never thought about Renee's private life, but the drawings Chell made were definitely not doing it any favors.

He had split his lunch with her. His sandwich, bag of chips, and apple had all been halved with care. He had kept his soda and bought her some juice from a vending machine. Chell set her sandwich down and picked up her apple half.

"Apple," she said proudly. Wheatley smiled and nodded.

"Yes, that's an apple. Aaappplllee." He said it slowly.

"Aaaapppllleeee," Chell repeated. She took a bite and chewed with a smile. Wheatley chuckled, but couldn't help wondering if maybe Chell had brain damage or some kind of psychological disorder. His thoughts were broken when he suddenly found himself in a headlock.

"Wheaties!" Oh, Wheatley knew that voice. That was Rick, head of security, and Wheatley's flatmate. Rick was a tall beefy man with long black hair he kept back in a ponytail and bright green eyes. His uniform was black, and he carried a baton, stun gun, real gun, and radio on his belt.

"Who's the girl? Your college days coming back at you, Wheaties?" Rick teased. He gave a warm smile to Chell, and Chell waved excitedly.

"This is Renee's child," Wheatley said, getting free of the headlock and sitting back down to straighten his tie and hair. Rick sat next to him.

"Renee? Didn't know she had kids," he said. He swiped a few of Wheatley's chips and munched on them.

"Neither did I," Wheatley sighed. "I'm watching her until Renee gets off work. Renee promised to put in a good word for me with Mr. Johnson if I agreed."

"Now why are you gonna let that woman walk all over you?" Rick said with a roll of his eyes. "If she's gonna pop out babies, she should take care of them herself. She shouldn't rope some poor dumb bastard into doing it for her."

Wheatley smacked Rick in the chest, which Rick barely felt.

"Watch what you say in front of her, please." Wheatley hissed.

"Bastard," said Chell. Wheatley face palmed.

"See?" he said. "Now she might repeat that to Renee, and Renee will think I said it around her."

"Don't get your thong in a bunch, Wheaties," Rick said. "There's nothing wrong with a kid that cusses. It's cute if you ask me. Hey," he was suddenly struck by a thought, "maybe she'll respond better to it."

"What are you talking-"

"Hello little lady," Rick said pleasantly. "My name's Rick. What's yours?" Chell smiled, but didn't say a word.

"Now let's try this again," Rick said with a gesture that told Wheatley to watch closely.

"Hello, little lady, my shitty name is Rick. What's your damn name?"

Chell giggled. "My name is Chell," she said. Wheatley's jaw dropped and Rick adopted a smug look.

"Nice to meet you, Chell," he said. "And how the fuck old are you?"

"Seven," said Chell. "What about you?"

It was unbelievable. She had barely spoken, and now she was speaking clearly and fluidly with a tone that spoke of intelligence. Wheatley couldn't believe that all you had to do was cuss at her to get her speaking. He would have to look that up and see if there were cases similar to this.

"Oh, I'm old," said Rick. "I'm thirty three. Wheaties here is only thirty. That means that I'm older than him." He carried on a conversation with Chell, still full of cuss words. Wheatley learned that Chell liked to watch cartoons, draw pictures, and eat chicken nuggets. Her favorite animal was a sheep, and she liked to do puzzles.

When lunch was over, Wheatley ushered her back to his cubicle, and then turned to Rick.

"How did you know she would talk if you cursed at her?" He asked. Rick laughed.

"You think I got this job cuz I'm all brawn and no brain? Kids are tricky things that will usually only respond if you talk to them like their parents do."

"Are you saying that Renee curses at Chell a lot?" Wheatley asked. Rick shrugged.

"As much as I hear her cussing around here I assumed she did. Guess she does. I gotta get back now, have fun with Chell."

Chell had gone back to drawing pictures as Wheatley continued working. A report on artificial intelligence was due soon, and he needed to get it done. He worked for a bit longer, occasionally looking back at Chell. He paused to stretch and saw that Chell was playing with the Rubix Cube he kept on his desk. Wheatley smiled softly as he watched her twist and turn the sides with a fierce determination. He had once been good at solving those cubes, but no longer seemed to know the secret. The cube was more for stress relief now, the twisting and turning seemed to help calm him down. That particular cube was worn with age as he had bought it in college, but it had always been a faithful companion to him.

He glanced at the clock to see that his shift was coming to an end. He saved his work on his flash drive and stretched again. He heard a triumphant laugh from Chell and saw that she had gotten one side all one color. She held the cube up proudly, and Wheatley didn't have the heart to tell her that she still hadn't solved it.

"Good job, luv," he said.

"Luv," Chell repeated, trying to mimic Wheatley's accent. She suddenly turned to her stack of drawings and fished one out. Wheatley took it when she held it out and looked at it. It was a childish scribble of him and Chell with a hastily added in Rick. Wheatley smiled.

"Thank you, luv. It's very pretty." He said. Chell's smile faltered and she pointed at the bulletin board on the wall above Wheatley's desk, her silent plea evident in her eyes. It took Wheatley a few seconds to figure out what she wanted, but he did. He fished a few thumbtacks from his drawer and stuck the picture on the bulletin board.

Chell jumped at him and enveloped him in a tight hug. Wheatley was shocked to hear her sniffle and thank him. He pulled her into his lap and returned the hug. All this because he put her drawing on his wall. He thought about it and an ugly thought entered his mind. Perhaps Chell asked her mother to put her pictures on the fridge.

And perhaps Renee never did.


	3. Craig and Jason

Wheatley was supposed to have left two hours ago.

That's what the clock said when he glanced at it. His work was done and saved on his flash drive, all of his papers had been filed or turned in, and now he was sitting at his desk with a sleeping Chell in his lap. He had tried numerous times to call Renee or even go by her new office, but she didn't answer in either event.

Wheatley sighed and rubbed Chell's back, not even caring that she was drooling all over his shirt. He really had no clue what to do. He couldn't very well leave while he still had Chell, nor could he just leave her in his cubicle to go home. He supposed he just had to wait until Renee came by. Thankfully, the company was still open and there were still people milling about.

Like Rick.

Rick had a very pitying look on his face when he came by Wheatley's cubicle.

"Why are you still here?" He asked softly. "Renee aint come by yet?"

Wheatley sighed again and shook his head. Rick cursed softly to himself.

"Who does that bitch think she is dumping her daughter on you and then not bothering to show up to take her home on time? You did tell her your shift ended at six, right?"

"Several times," said Wheatley.

"Sit tight, then," said Rick. "I'm gonna go find her." Wheatley nodded wearily as Rick left. Wheatley yawned and carefully maneuvered himself so that he could prop his feet up on his desk. Chell moved a bit in her sleep before settling down and Wheatley closed his own eyes and was soon fast asleep with her.

~O~

"I'm here," there was a knocking on the wall of Wheatley's cubicle. Wheatley opened his eyes to see a very irritated Renee with a very irritated Rick. Wheatley moved his feet back down as Renee walked up to him.

"Careful," Wheatley whispered, "she's asleep-"

But Renee was already shaking Chell awake.

"Come on," she said. "It's time to go home." Chell rubbed her eyes sleepily as Renee pulled her from Wheatley's lap and set her on the ground. Then, without any kind of thank you or word to Chell, Renee bustled from the cubicle and down the hall. Chell struggled to keep up, but managed to wave back at Rick and Wheatley.

Wheatley looked up at Rick to see him wearing an angry expression.

"Christ on a wagon, that woman should never have had kids," said Rick. "She wasn't even here. I had to go grab her from a bar and threaten to get the cops involved if she didn't come get Chell. Sorry it took so long." Wheatley grabbed a few folders and then smiled at Rick.

"It wasn't a problem," he said. "I actually had fun with Chell." Rick said nothing for a minute, then he smiled and gave Wheatley a noogie.

"You're such a pushover," he said. "Even little girls are walking all over you."

"Oh hush," Wheatley removed himself from Rick's grip and started down the hallway. "Admit it, you had fun with her too."

"Maybe," Rick said with a grin. "Too bad she's gone now. It was only for today."

Wheatley froze just as he was about to hit the button for the elevator.

"Well…" he trailed off. Rick narrowed his eyes.  
"Renee _did _say that it was only for today, right?" Wheatley scratched the back of his head as the elevator doors shut.

"Actually… she didn't say anything about that. She just asked me to watch her."

Rick facepalmed.

"This is why you would make a terrible lawyer. You gotta read the fine print! Look for any loopholes, and such. Now you could be stuck watching Chell until she's in high school!" He said as they left the building.

"Well, I'm sure that Renee only meant today," Wheatley fumbled as they walked across the parking lot.

"Hope you're right," said Rick. "Cuz if you're wrong I know you aren't gonna stand up to her."

Wheatley sighed. Rick was right about that.

~O~

"Pinkie!" Rick gleefully grabbed the pink-eyed man in a headlock much like he did Wheatley. His name was actually Craig, but Rick had a nickname for everyone, even Craig's younger brother Jason. Jason was laughing at his brother, golden eyes shining with mirth.

"Nice to see you too, Rick," Craig said as he removed himself from Rick's arms.

"And hello Spacey," Rick said to Jason. "What did you do today?"

"We went to the planetarium!" Jason said excitedly, referring to his school field trip. "We saw SPACE! So much space!"

"You wanna go to space?" Rick asked.

"Wanna go to space!" Jason waved his hands around excitedly. "Gonna go to space one day!"

Craig chuckled.

"He's still going through his space phase?" Wheatley asked his neighbor.

"He's been all about space since he was old enough to spell it," said Craig. "I don't really think this is a phase, but who am I to complain? At least he likes something good. So how was work? I saw you on my way out with some girl."

"That was Chell, Renee's daughter. And before you say it, I didn't know that she had a daughter either," said Wheatley, getting his mail from his box. Craig watched Rick and Jason play wrestle.

"How did she manage to get you to watch her daughter?" He asked Wheatley.

"She promised to put in a good word for me with the testing team," Wheatley said as he went through his mail. Craig rolled his eyes.

"You're still trying to get on the testing team? Why? You're doing just fine in the research department. I know I love it there."

"Yes, well we aren't all crazy about facts like you are," Wheatley said, heading towards the elevator.

"I am not crazy about facts," Craig followed after Wheatley.

"You have an app on your phone that gives you random facts every day," Wheatley pointed out. Craig crossed his arms in defeat as Wheatley hit the button for the elevator.

"Today's fact was about space!" Jason said excitedly as Rick carried him over his shoulder.

"Really?" asked Rick. "And what was the fact, Pinkie?" Craig rolled his eyes.

"Fact: the largest galaxies are made up of over 400 billion stars," he said. The elevator dinged, and Rick had to duck to not bump Jason's head as they got on.

"Back to this deal you made," said Craig. "I can't see any good coming from this."

"And why not?" asked Wheatley.

"Rick," Craig warned. Rick covered Jason's ears. "Because Renee is a bitch, and she will more than likely screw you over than honor the deal." Rick uncovered Jason's ears and Jason giggled.

"You don't know that for sure," said Wheatley. "People change. Maybe this will be that one time that she actually does something decent for once." The elevator dinged again and they walked down the hall to their apartments.

"Maybe," Craig agreed, fishing in his pocket for his key. "Maybe we're all wrong and she will do the right thing." He found his key and flashed Wheatley a meaningful glance. "But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you." Jason waved as Craig opened the door and left a disheartened Wheatley in the hallway.


End file.
